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egoistsarchive · 3 months ago

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Michael Kaiser Profile from Egoist Bible Vol.2 (2024)

Nationality: German.

Weapon: “Kaiser Impact”

Birthdate: December 25th.

Age: 19 years old (At the start of the Neo Egoist League)

Zodiac sign: Capricorn.

Birthplace: Berlin, Germany.

Family structure: Father, himself.

Height: 186 cm.

Foot size: 28 cm.

Eyesight: 0.9 in both eyes

Blood type: A.

Team: Bastard Munchen.

Dominant foot: Right.

Grip Strength: 80 kg.

Favorite soccer player: None.

Age started playing soccer: 15 years old.

Motto: "Become the symbol of the impossible"

Nickname: Blue Rose Emperor.

Strengths: Looking down on all other “humans”.

Weaknesses: I have a crazy bedhead. I wake up grumpy.

Favorite food: Bread crust rusks. When I was a kid, I used to make them with discarded bread from the sandwich shop in my neighborhood. The sugar and garlic flavor are so damn good.*

Disliked food: Milk. It brings back bad memories. And I simply hate the smell. Disgusting. Fucking nasty.

Best rice accompaniment: I don’t eat rice that often. Do tell me what’s good.

Hobbies: Reading. Psychology and Philosophy. I’m interested in the principles of human behavior.

Favorite season: Winter. Because loneliness suits me.

Favorite music: "Desperado" by Eagles.

Favorite movie: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.

Character color: Metallic Blue.

Favorite animal: Stray dogs.

Best subjects: I didn’t take classes seriously.

Weak subjects: I didn’t go to school so I don’t know.

Fetish: Face of Despair fetish. I want to taste the depth of that person.

What makes you happy: Being regarded as an enemy. Just thinking about destroying them gives me thrills.

What makes you sad: Presents. I don’t know how to react to them. Don’t fucking need them. Just get the fuck out.

Ideal type: Someone beautiful, intelligent, and affectionate.

Last year’s valentine day chocolates: 800. I heard they were delivered to the team's clubhouse.

Sleep time: 8 hours (7 hours+1 hour nap)

Where do you wash first in the bath?: Left chest.

Favorite smartphone app: Health app. Every morning I check my pulse, and I feel alive looking at the numbers.

Mushroom or Bamboo Shoots?: What are you talking about? Chocolate? Mushroom is fine then.**

What made you cry recently: When I squeezed my neck, tears came out. I looked at my face in the mirror and laughed.***

At what age did you stop receiving presents from Santa?: Never received any. Santa doesn’t exist.

What did you ask for a Christmas present from Santa?: Freedom.

What would you do on your last day on earth?: Regret. Thinking of how I could’ve lived my life differently. If tomorrow were my last day, I think I'd regret it.

What would you do if you received 100 million yen?: Whatever. Maybe I’d buy a rose garden.

What do you do on your days off?: Take a long shower, read, think about people I want to kill and about myself, take a shit then go to sleep.

What would you be doing if you hadn’t discovered soccer?: Committing crime. Starving to death

Who is your favorite historical figure?: Nietzsche. Freud. Napoleon. I’d like to talk to these three.

If you could only bring one thing to a deserted island, what would it be?: My soccer ball. Where would you go if you had a time machine, to the past or the future?: The future. There’s no salvation in the past, so the future is better. I want to see if there is salvation in the future.

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Notes:*…サンドイッチ屋で捨てるアレをもらって作ってた。 (...sandoitchi-ya de suteru Are o moratte tsukutteta) -> ”...made them using the stuff (bread) that was thrown away from the sandwich shop…”

**Kaiser is German so he wouldn’t know the legendary beef between Team Mushroom or Team Bamboo.

***Kaiser said 自分の首を絞めた時 (Jibun no kubi o shimeta toki) or “When I strangled my own neck”. The verb 首を絞める (kubi o shimeru) is “to wring the neck”, “to strangle.”

Ness basically said the same thing in chapter.243 -> 自分で自分の首を絞めて･･･!?!?! (Jibun de jibun no kubi o shimete..!?) – and the official translated it as “He’s squeezing his own neck!?”, so we also went with ‘Squeeze’!

#michael kaiser #egoist bible #egoist bible vol.2 #translation

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bluelocksource · 4 months ago

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Michael Kaiser’s trivia (src: EGOIST BIBLE 2)

☆ Character's color: Metallic Blue.

☆ Weapon : Kaiser Impact.

☆ Birthday: 25th December.

☆ Current age: 19 (at the start of NEL).

☆ Zodiac: Capricorn.

☆ Nickname: "Blue Rose Emperor"

☆ Birthplace: Berlin, Germany.

☆ Family: Father. Himself.

☆ Current height: 186 cm.

☆ Foot size: 28 cm.

☆ Dominant foot: Right.

☆ Blood type: A.

☆ Visual acuity: 0.9 in both eyes.

☆ Grip strength: 80 kg.

☆ Motto: "Become the symbol of impossibility."

☆ Team: Bastard München.

☆ Starts playing football: At age 15.

☆ Interest: Psychology, philosophy, and human behavior principles.

☆ Favorite food: Rusk made from the crust of bread. "When I was a kid, I used to get those from a local sandwich shop before they were thrown away. They’re really good, whether sweet or garlic-flavored."

☆ Dislike/hated food: Milk. "It reminds me of unpleasant things. Plus, I just hate the smell. It’s gross."

☆ What goes best with rice: "I don’t really eat rice. Let me know what’s good. "

☆ Favorite animal: Stray dogs.

☆ Favorite season: Winter. "I feel at home with the loneliness."

☆ Favorite movie: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.

☆ Favorite music: "Desperado" by Eagles.

☆ Frequently used app: Healthcare app. "Every morning I would measure my pulse to feel alive through numbers."

☆ Favorite football player: None.

☆ Favorite subject: "I haven't really attended school, so I don't know."

☆ Weak subject: "I don’t know because I haven’t been to school."

☆ Mushroom shoots vs Bamboo shoots: "What’s that about? Chocolate? Mushroom will do."

☆ Ideal type: "Someone who is beautiful, smart and affectionate."

☆ Fixation: Despair. "I want to experience the deep immersion of that person."

☆ What would make him happy: Being targeted. "The thought of eliminating them gives me a thrill."

☆ What would make him upset: Presents. "I don’t know how to react, and I really don’t want them. Just go away."

☆ What he thinks his strength is: “The ability to look down on all 'humans'."

☆ What he thinks his weakness is: “My crazy bed hair. I wake up really poorly.”

☆ What made him cry recently: “When I choked myself, tears came out. I laughed when I saw my face in the mirror.”

☆ Usual sleeping hour: 8 hours (7 hours + 1 hour)

☆ Number of chocolates received from previous Valentine: 800. "Apparently, they were delivered to the team clubhouse."

☆ Place he washes first when taking a bath: Left chest.

☆ What will he do if received 100 million yen: "I don't really care. I guess I'll buy a rose garden."

☆ At what age he stops receiving presents from Santa: "Such things never arrived. That kind of thing doesn’t exist."

☆ What was his last wish from Santa: Freedom.

☆ How he spent his holiday: "Take a leisure shower, read, think about the people I want to kill and myself, then take a dump and go to sleep."

☆ What will he do during his last day on Earth: "Regret. I think there were other ways to live. If tomorrow were the last day, I’d feel that way."

☆ Favorite historical figure: Nietzsche, Freud, Napoleon. "I want to talk to these three."

☆ If he hadn't encountered soccer, what will he be doing: Crime. Starve to death.

☆ If he could only take one thing to a deserted island, what would it be: "My soccer ball."

☆ If he had a time machine, would he go to the past or the future: The future. "There’s no salvation in the past, so the future is better. I want to see if there’s no salvation in the future either."

note: i want to apologize in advance for any mistake made in the translation!

#blue lock #michael kaiser #trivia: michael kaiser #trivia #trivia: profile #that's it for now #will be updating the bllk players soon #our translation

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chirp-a-chirp · 6 months ago

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What is one fact(or facts) that the CoD community need to accept

That nearly EVERY consort has done at least one seriously questionable action in his book one or has had at least one event in the past three years with a screwed up motive/grey area of consent depending on your trigger.

The exception to the above is Rio/Tino, because they are otome Cinnabons.

And I say this as someone who loves court of darkness as a game. Including the layers to these characters and exploring some of their darker/psychological angles. But those questionable motives include:

ALL the S Ranks using their power on MC in their book one (and some trying to make a move on a frightened MC or forcibly kissing/touching her when she first arrived to Saligia)

Grayson’s drunk kissing as a mechanism to show “passion” for a stoic character (and Fenn sometimes watching)

Events featuring kidnapping/slavery

Events with convenient use of magic to make a normally softer character act questionable (ie, when Voltage wants Lynt to “act more like Guy” it often makes Lynt pushy/not take no as an answer)

All of Jasper’s book one.

Lou’s magic mirror. I don’t wanna imagine the things he’s seen on that. He’s certainly seen enough to cock block a number of consorts at the end of their book ones…💀

And these things don’t mean the characters are bad or others should be/feel ashamed for liking them. Good characters do bad things! Also, bad writing makes characters do bad things 💀

There are a ton of past CoD events, so it’s not stunning there are events with things that make some readers go ICK. It makes the characters human though. But Seriously—Voltage really needs to include trigger warnings.

However, those same character flaws can also make these characters’ good actions rewarding. (Below are just my opinions—others may disagree)

Guy going from non-consensually kissing mc in the prologue to fiercely protecting her from assassins because of his devotion to her is a beautiful character arc to witness. Fenn swinging from butt pinching Knight without consent to craving and asking for tender hugs from mc is endearingly sweet. Roy’s book one confronts his shiny prince persona—including shattering the notion he’s perfect and 100% morally upstanding—and highlights that his true self (a man of principle and kindness) he thinks is his weakness is actually his strength.

So yeah, we need to accept morally grey actions and events from most of the love interests do exist. Unfortunately, there aren’t warnings to alert us to events featuring those grey areas if they are triggering to others.

#court of darkness #voltage games #otome #voltage otome #voltage romance games #half blog answer half rant analysis?

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allthingslinguistic · 2 years ago

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But by the end of my five years [as a copy editor], I felt intellectually and psychologically worn down by the labor I logged on my biweekly timesheets. Whatever roller-rink of neurons helped me spot aberrations from convention had grown practiced and strong, and it was difficult to read any unconventional sentence without reflexively rearranging it into a more conventional form.

Something had shrunken and withered in me, for having directed so much of my attention away from the substance of the stories I read and into their surface. Few people in our office, let alone outside its walls, would notice the variation in line spacing, the fact that Jesus’ was lacking its last, hard “s,” or whatever other reason we were sending the proofs to be printed again—and if they did, who the fuck cared? [....]

I can’t help wondering, though, whether there wasn’t something insidious in the way we worked—some poison in our many rounds of minute changes, in our strained and often tense conversations about ligatures and line breaks, in our exertions of supposedly benign, even benevolent, power; if those polite conversations constituted a covert, foot-dragging protest against change, an insistence on the quiet conservatism of the liberal old guard, and if they were a distraction from the conversations that might have brought meaningful literary or linguistic change about. In fact, I sense myself enacting the same foot-dragging here.

It’s fun—it’s dangerously pleasing—to linger in the minutiae of my bygone copyediting days, even if, by the time I left that job to teach college writing full-time, I was convinced that “correcting” “errors” of convention most readers would never notice was the least meaningful work a person could possibly do. I’m writing this, however, to ask whether copyediting as it’s been practiced is worse than meaningless: if, in fact, it does harm.

Do we really need copyediting? I don’t mean the basic clean-up that reverses typos, reinstates skipped words, and otherwise ensures that spelling and punctuation marks are as an author intends. Such copyediting makes an unintentionally “messy” manuscript easier to read, sure.

But the argument that texts ought to read “easily” slips too readily into justification for insisting a text working outside dominant Englishes better reflect the English of a dominant-culture reader—the kind of reader who might mirror the majority of those at the helm of the publishing industry, but not the kind of reader who reflects a potential readership (or writership) at large.

A few years before leaving copyediting, I began teaching a scholarly article I still read with students today, Lee A. Tonouchi’s “Da State of Pidgin Address.” Written in Hawai’ian Creole English, or Pidgin, it asks whether what “dey say” is true: “dat da perception is dat da standard english talker is going automatically be perceive fo’ be mo’ intelligent than da Pidgin talker regardless wot dey talking, jus from HOW dey talking.” The article leaves many students questioning the assumptions they began reading it with: its effect is immediate, personal, and profound.

In another article I pair it with, “Should Writers Use They Own English,” Vershawn Ashanti Young answers Tonouchi’s implicit question, writing, “don’t nobody’s language, dialect, or style make them ‘vulnerable to prejudice.’ It’s ATTITUDES.” Racial difference and linguistic difference, Young reminds us, are intertwined, and “Black English dont make it own-self oppressed.”

It’s clear that copyediting as it’s typically practiced is a white supremacist project, that is, not only for the particular linguistic forms it favors and upholds, which belong to the cultures of whiteness and power, but for how it excludes or erases the voices and styles of those who don’t or won’t perform this culture. Beginning with an elementary school teacher’s red pen, and continuing with agents, publishers, and university faculty who on principle turn away work that arrives on their desk in unconventionally grammatical or imperfectly punctuated form, voices that don’t mimic dominance are muffled when they get to the page and also before they get there—as schools, publishers, and their henchmen entrench the idea that those writing outside convention are not writing “well,” and therefore ought not set their voices to paper at all. [...]

Like other emissaries of the powerful (see, e.g., the actual police), copy editors often wield what power they do have unpredictably, teetering between generous attention and brute, insistent force. You saw this in the way our tiny department got worked up over the stubbornness of an editor or author who had dug in their heels: their resistance was a threat, sometimes to our suspiciously moral-feeling attachment to “correctness,” sometimes to our aesthetics, and sometimes to our sense of ourselves. [...]

There’s a flip side, if it’s not already obvious, to the peculiar “respect” I received in that dusty closet office at twenty-two. A 2020 article in the Columbia Journalism Review refers casually to “fusspot grammarians and addled copy editors”; I’m not the only one who imagines the classic copy editor as uncreative, neurotic, and cold.

I want to say they’re the publishing professionals most likely, in the cultural imagination, to be female, but that doesn’t feel quite right: agents and full-on editors are female in busty, sexy ways, while copy editors are brittle, unsexed. Their labor nevertheless shares with other typically female labors a concern with the small and the surface, those aspects of experience many of us are conditioned to dismiss.

I’m willing to bet, too, that self-professed “grammar snobs” rarely come from power themselves—that there is a note of aspirational literariness in claiming the identity as such. [...]

It makes me wonder if, in renouncing my job when I left it—in calling copyediting the world’s least meaningful work—I might have been reenacting some of the literary scene’s most entrenched big-dick values: its insistence on story over surface (what John Gardner called the “fictional dream”), on anti-intellectualism but also the elitist cloak of it-can-never-be-taught. The grammar snob’s aspiration and my professor’s condescension bring to mind the same truism: that real power never needs to follow its own rules. [...]

Copyediting shares with poetry a romantic attention to detail, to the punctuation mark and the ordering of words. To treat someone else’s language with that fine a degree of attention can be an act of love. Could there be another way to practice copyediting—less attached to precedent, less perseverating, and more eagerly transgressive; a practice that, to distinguish itself from the quietly violent tradition from which it arises, might not be called “copyediting” at all; a practice that would not only “permit” but amplify the potential for linguistic invention and preservation in any written work?

--- Against Copyediting: Is It Time to Abolish the Department of Corrections? Helen Betya Rubinstein on Having Power Over More Than Just Commas

#linguistics #literature #copyediting #copyeditor #prescriptivism #grammar snobbery #editing #writing #publishing

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madamlaydebug · 6 months ago

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In ordinary human life, those who have not achieved the state of Enlightenment (the masses in society at large) perceive nature as a conglomeration of forces which are unpredictable and in need of control. However, as spiritual sensitivity matures, the aspirant realizes that what once appeared to be chaotic is in reality the Divine Plan of the Supreme Being in the process of unfoldment. When this state of consciousness is attained, the aspirant realizes that there is an underlying order in nature which can only be perceived with spiritual eyes.

The various injunctions of Maat are for the purpose of keeping order in society among ordinary people, people without psychological maturity and/or spiritual sensitivity, meaning that they lack an awareness of spiritual principles and moral - ethical development. Also, they provide insight into the order of creation and a pathway or spiritual discipline, which when followed, will lead the aspirant to come into harmony with the cosmic order. When the individual attunes his or her own sense of order and balance with the cosmic order, a spontaneous unity occurs between the individual and the cosmos, and the principles of Maat, rather than being a blind set of rules which we must strive to follow, become a part of one's inner character and proceed from one in a spontaneous manner.

This means that through the deeper understanding of cosmic order and by the practice of living in harmony with that order, the individual will lead him or herself to mental and spiritual peace and harmony. It is this peace and harmony which allows the lake of the mind to become a clear mirror in which the individual soul is able to realize its oneness with the Universal Soul. ☥ ⚖ ☥

#khepraholistics

#rebirth

#renewal

#transformation

#maatseason

#sacredmagicofancientegypt

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tavyliasin · 1 year ago

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The Abdirak Essay - Fandom, Pain, and Loviatar's Love

Another day, another Lia Essay - and if you're really really deliciously sinful my very dear darlings, I shall give you yet more when the sun rises again upon the morrow. So, today in Niche Fandom Adoration Hours, I give you:

For The Love of Loviatar: Why Discomfort Can Be Delightful, How Agony Alleviates Anguish, and All The Ways Abdirak Fans Are Also TavyliaSin's Very Favourite People (Who Also Probably Need A Hug) ((Do We Love The Long Titles?)) (((If No, Consider This Essay Title Part Of Your Penitance)))

The themes of this essay will discuss: BDSM, Kink, Chronic Pain, wounds/injury, Acute Pain, Mental Health, mentions of harmful behaviours, a discussion of psychological elements from someone with absolutely no formal training or experience, vague mentions of trauma, and the magic of friendship. So please make sure you are in a comfortable place within yourself if you feel any of the above might be difficult to read for any reason. It is ok to skip sections as each has a topic header, or you can leave at any time. Nobody is judging you for that at all. Additionally, NSFW discussion further through, so minors DNI as usual. Very little of my blog will ever be suitable for under 18s, for your safety and for mine. Editing in to add a link to the Abdirak fandom gift to chronic pain pals A Cameo from Declan (Abdirak's Performer) (Fully SFW)

All that said, the main theme of this piece is actually:

To truly understand suffering is to avoid being its cause.

So, let's understand what "Suffering" is first, shall we, Dear Ones?

The Difference between Pain and Suffering

Lia hasn't completely lost the plot darlings, the two words may seem almost interchangeable but they are not. At the very least, this is the interpretation I have and the discussion that follows will stick with it too~ Pain is the sensation itself, whether physical or mental, it is the hurt, the bruise pressed upon, the moment a heart breaks. That is pain. Suffering on the other hand, is the effect that the pain has. It is the anguish, the torment, the overwhelm and the exhaustion. So, whilst two people might have the same pain, let's say a stubbed toe for a simple example, their suffering might be very different. One might feel able to walk it off, maybe swear a little and move on. Another might need to sit immediately, feel tears in their eyes, or even become utterly overcome by misery from the intense sensation. This might sound like a difference in tolerance, but it can also be seen as taking the bigger picture into account. One brick might not feel so heavy to someone with empty hands, but added to a pile of bricks already carried it may feel as if it weighs a dozen times as much.

What about Abdirak? How does he relate to Pain and Suffering?

When I first heard Abdirak speak, I knew he understood this concept to its very core. His goddess wants pain, but in himself he does not seem to want actual suffering. He does draw a different line, with pain being physical and suffering being the mental aspect, however the principles are very close to my own. Some people might see Abdirak and judge him as cruel, as a torturer delighting in anguish, but that could not be further from the truth. When he speaks of delivering pain with a loving hand, that really is meant. When he was speaking to the player character, for a moment I felt so intensely seen when he speaks of seeing a greater suffering.

"Forgive me, but that look in your eyes - something terrible has happened to you. ...I see those same eyes when I look in the mirror, dear one."

This, to me, was such a moment. He recognises trauma easily, and we also have this chance here to either interpret this as "oh, right, the tadpole stuff, the things in the game" or we can allow our own feelings about a player character's backstory as the interpretation of what he has seen. Either way, he immediately offers to alleviate that suffering with pain, something he is familiar with, something he knows to help from personal experience. There's the important point. His motivation is not to cause hurt, but to relieve it.

How does pain make anything better?

Deep breaths loves we're getting to the heart of a few things here and it may get heavy. At the most basic broken down level, right at the bottom of everything, it's about distraction. Pain is instant, sharp, a sensation that draws our nerves tight and fires off that electricity directly into our brains. It takes our attention and focus away from whatever else is on our minds. Usually? This would be detrimental, to be unable to concentrate on something because pain is intruding. However, think back here, "delivered with a loving and measured hand." This is precise pain, sensation that is welcomed and applied with expert care in order to reach that point right between where pain is suffering and where it cuts out the thoughts. BDSM darlings will know this as similar to "subspace" which I will discuss later~ Whilst there is some short term benefit to using strong sensation to distract the mind and alleviate intense distress, if taken into real life scenarios there are a lot of things to consider, and it is far better to speak with a therapist. Though the most commonly suggested low-harm methods can be things like gripping an ice cube for a minute or two, or even something like exercise that can push the mind to focus on the body instead of the source of the distress. The element of penance is also there. Abdirak brings to the fore those thoughts of struggle and guilt, so those are the thoughts that are stripped back by the physical pain. It's intentional, careful, and taps at the other core of using pain to alleviate suffering.

Why we love Abdirak, and the importance of recognising the weight of unwarranted guilt.

Remember my little villain essay? Back then I spoke of how a love for villains can also come from the way we are prone to judge ourselves unfairly, to heap undeserved guilt at our own feet, and to believe every slight mistake to be a heinous sin. Sorry, darlings, the only heinous "sin" you are allowed to believe in is me. Name puns aside... Part of the draw is indeed right there, believing ourselves deserving of punishment it's appealing to want to submit to that and find absolution from everything we judge ourselves for. And yet, it isn't a horrific thing, it's coloured by love and affection. The Love of Loviatar from Abdirak does not ignore that first part. But I do encourage you, if you are feeling particularly called out right now, to stop seeking punishment for things that are objectively not your fault, and instead treat yourself with kindness and forgiveness. By all means continue to indulge in our beloved priest of Pain and the joy he brings, but do so without any negative self-assessment, alright? Good, I'm glad we agre- THAT MEANS ALL OF YOU. No exceptions.

And what of the Fandom?

Ahh Abdirak fandom. Small, loving, welcoming, and utterly devoted~ Similarly to villain fandom (Abdirak is obviously not a villain, but is arguably villain-coded), his fandom also draws a lot of kindness and understanding. Despite how we might see ourselves, we are remarkably free from judgement in how we treat each other. There's endless encouragement, genuine warmth, and alongside spicy takes that might make lava look like a suitable spot for ice fishing there's a profound amount of respect and consent. By which I mean, there's no shame. There's no allowance for "I hate that character you like", or "that kink is bad because I don't like it". Tags and CWs are applied to posts and works with care and nobody is treated poorly for enjoying what (or who) they enjoy in the fictional space. To go back to the quote at the start of this essay, "to truly understand suffering is to avoid being its cause." I feel the vast majority of us have that depth of insight and recognition for suffering and have the empathy required to wish to avoid it. And that is why I would perhaps feel safest in the company of Abdirak fans (and likewise Raphael fans), there's another level of connection in those tadpoles~ Which leads me neatly forwards to...

Endurance: Abdirak and Chronic Pain Sufferers

Here, loves, we're going to get a bit more personal. Those of us with chronic pain conditions may find an even deeper connection. So I'll go over a little for those who are fortunate enough to not have personal experience here: Chronic Pain - This applies to pain which is constant or frequently recurring, that lasts (and/or is expected to last) for more than 3 months. It's not like a broken bone that heals and has an end, it's not like a few headaches that come and go with little consequence, it is either always present or always on the edge of flaring up at any time. It's different to acute pain, because most conditions have no cure, many barely have any treatment so all one can do is try to endure the worst of it. The other side-symptoms can be reduction in physical ability, exhaustion, mental health difficulties (because for some odd reason constant pain is not a path to happiness), low self esteem, and of course carrying the guilt of feeling like a burden if you need help from others (you are not a burden, and anyone who says so can receive the blessing of forever feeling like there is a stone in their shoe that they cannot find). As an aside, this can apply to chronic mental health struggles too - it is still pain, only a different kind. Though I will be looking primarily at physical pain here, as that's where Abdirak's focus is. Now, where are we going with this? The difference here is in how pain is treated. Abdirak speaks of pain as a wonderful thing, as something that is sought after, that is a way of worshipping Loviatar. This is something that might feel strange to someone who is plagued by pain, but there's another quote I'd like us to remember.

"Pain without purpose is a terrible thing, wouldn't you agree?"

Chronic pain has no purpose. It's there whether by illness or injury, or some other unseen cause. It was not a choice, it doesn't bring any relief, and often it drags us right down with it.

"Please let me alleviate this pain."

And there's another line, one we wish we could hear, one we wish so very deeply in the core of our being that we could believe. That there could be someone who could bring an end to the pain even if only for a brief time, a fleeting hope of relief.

How fanworks can be a means of coping with chronic pain.

So here's the next point... What in all the hells do I mean, how can fanworks help a single thing? Well, have some personal moments. I had a deeply unpleasant flare up the other night, so I put out a brief ask to writing groups for some comforting fiction shorts. In the past, I've written a few myself - like these: Abdirak - Migraine Comfort Yurgir - Migraine Comfort Tav - General Comfort, with Audio Multi-Character Comfort Drabbles (Including Abdirak) Full AO3 fic of Abdirak x Chronic Pain Reader (Spicy, NSFW)

These are the two I received from some writers very dear to my heart who have more talent and skill than I could ever hope to aspire to in their works. Elfvamp (who does not have tumblr) (image description is attached to the image)

and this one from @morb-untamed

Darlings, when I tell you there were tears in my eyes at these, I mean it. THIS is just an example of the understanding and compassion possible in the community, the care and consideration, and the emotion that words can carry through them that make things genuinely feel more bearable in the moment of distress. Both captured something that it took me too long to realise. Perhaps what follows might sound entirely unreasonable or unhinged, but for someone like myself who has not known a single second of what "0%" feels like in over 10 years, it's beginning to seem far more sane by the moment. What if, within the confines of my mind, I try to rewrite the understanding of pain as something different. Just tell myself each new pain is an offering to some vile deity who has decided my mortal vessel is worthy of enduring, rather than one that is being punished with suffering. Breathe through it and listen to those character voices, find my own purpose to the pain. Let it become inspiration, note it down, get that visceral and intimate knowledge to the page instead. Naturally, this probably isn't a healthy coping mechanism, nor one that is infallible, but there have been moments recently where thinking that has made the moderate levels less distressing, easier to tolerate for a time. Perhaps it could do the same for you, but perhaps not, either way - it is there. Please do read through the comfort pieces too, and if you would like to see more - even ones with more specific aims and pains, please do just ask and I will make them happen. Either through my ask box, or in comments/reblogs, or any other way you wish to contact me honestly.

Alright, Tavylia, we've covered personal pain, but you promised NSFW discussion!

Oh my very dear darlings I had not forgotten this part~ You may here people talk about "good pain" and "bad pain", and wonder how/why pain can ever be good. It's not just about a physical hurt sensation or using that as a distraction. Pain can cause a rush of adrenaline, and even endorphins - similar to how people enjoy extreme sports, horror films, or theme parks, it's a pleasant feeling from something that would usually be scary, because it's safe and controlled. Falling from a high place? That's terrifying, dangerous. Parachuting safely from that same high place? It's controlled, there's no real danger, but the feeling of danger brings that adrenaline rush. There's the key. In real life BDSM there is control in the safe signal, in knowing it can and will stop when needed, that although there is someone causing pain they will stop at a moment's notice. (Anyone who does not respect a safe word/signal is not someone you should be in that situation with, if you are engaging in or want to try BDSM with real partners please PLEASE do your research on safety, that's too long a lecture to add here) In the context of fiction, we can go a lot further. Could a real person easily withstand Abdirak hitting them with an axe in their back? Obviously not, that's far too much. But this is a world with magical healing, and our fantasy and fiction is quite safe to extend where we find is interesting. So when reading - and especially writing - with pain and pain play, I encourage you to remember these links to adrenaline, endorphins, and that it isn't about harm, it's far deeper, and finding an understanding of that (even if you never wish to experience it) might be of some benefit to understanding those around you who have this intimate relationship with pain.

A title for the End

I think I've covered a lot here, but I do just want to round us off now. If you have any questions about this topic (or any of my other essay posts), please do feel free to ask - that's why my box is there, for all kinds of discussions to open up. Not just for smut and creative writing, but for all the ways we connect with fiction and characters. There is so much more than a single story being told, each of us experiences it through the lens of our own experience, we all find our connections in different ways, and I will have more character essays on this later. There's so much more to see, to learn, from all the interpretations throughout the fandom. I'm very grateful to be here to witness it, and for you being here to share in these thoughts and explore them more with me. Pain can teach us many things, about ourselves and others. Empathy, kindness, compassion - when we know how much we need them ourselves, we begin to see how much others may need it too. Much like how Abdirak sees the pain behind the player character's eyes, and feels that strong desire to help in the ways he knows how.

A Final Note for the Pain Pals

To my Chronic Pain Pals, darlings you do not always have to be strong. It's alright. It will not break you entirely to let go of that incessant need to try and quietly endure. Find those places it is safe to let it out, look for those tricks you can use on your brain to make Loviatar's Favour just a little more bearable. You are worthy of kindness, support, and compassion. The same you are likely giving of yourself to everyone else. You are not a burden, these are pains you do not choose, and you deserve something more gentle without any guilt attached to it. You are also not alone, find community, find those who understand.

Pain without purpose...but have we given it one now?

So I hope this time the pain has had a purpose in teaching, in helping us connect in new ways, to find compassion and understanding. Until next time, Dear Ones, look after yourselves.

Oh hey look I know who made that gif that came up in the search~ What an absolutely wonderful coincidence ;) (And a final final footnote, hello Abdirak fan community, you are perfect and I wish you nothing but the best in all things)

#baldurs gate 3 #bg3 #abdirak #chronic pain #fandom essay #pain #pain and pleasure #comfort in fanfiction #comfort in fiction #coping with pain #the best fandom corners can be in the most unexpected places #the lessons pain can teach #to understand suffering is to avoid being its cause

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justenjoythegossip · 11 months ago

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MEAN GIRLS, CONTROLLED OPPOSITION, “USEFUL FOOLS” & THE STREISAND EFFECT

There has been some controversy regarding my post about the Middle Voice and some misunderstandings that I feel I should clear. I never intended to cause any harm to anyone, that is why I never use mods’ name (not when I talk about Team Real or Team PR or the Middle Voice either) as my goal is never to attack an individual or a group of people. I just try to share my observations, to look past the picture that is being sold, question narratives, try to show the dynamics at hand and the responses that could result from it.

Mean girls recognizing themselves…

Certain mods felt attacked by this article when I never had them in mind in the first place when I actually wrote it (which, I guess, is quite telling). But also, some rightfully recognized themselves, managed to gather around with their friends for a senseless blocking spree to boot me off the island. They have twisted my words, tried to discredit and ridicule them, which is a classic manipulation technique by the way.

It has been fascinating to see that all that I wrote (and I wrote plenty) has been reduced to the very silly notion of… plants. And yet, the picture is so much more complex than that. And I have been very careful anytime I have written about Team Real/PR Blogs or the Middle voice to define those groups very specifically and with as much accuracy as I could. And as you probably noticed, I always use the expression “plants/trolls”. Why? Because, those groups encompass a wide range of different profiles. Plants are actually the small minority of the bunch while trolls represent the largest majority. But since trolls consist of so much more than trolling, I guess it is rather important to define who they are and what they do.

Controlled opposition: a powerful strategy & a psychological weapon…

* “Controlled opposition is any person or organization which appears to be on one side, but is secretly working against the interests of that movement… With controlled opposition, one organization can play both sides. Controlled opposition can also act as spies, feeding information back to opposition organizations, feeding disinformation to those they pretend to ally with, and deliberately instigating infighting to ensure activist work does not get done”. https://www.hegemonmedia.com/p/what-is-controlled-opposition

PR strategies tend to mirror the games we find in Politics, so we can often use the same concepts to explain what is going on. Lenin once famously said that: “The best way to control the opposition is to lead it ourselves”. Middle Voice mods, Team PR mods and even Team Real mods work according to those very same basic principles. Some might find it strange that I include Team Real blogs to the controlled opposition. And yet it makes a lot of sense because some key players from that faction of the fandom used to debunk the stunts Chris, Abba and their teams were “trying” to pull, and they also used to criticize Chris very vehemently, even calling him disgusting names such as groomer or pedophile. And yet, some of those mods made a very “(non)sensical” U-turn and started to ship the very controversial couple. Obviously it only appeared to be nonsensical, but the reality is very different. Those mods were meant to pave the way for the fandom to embrace them as a Hollywood power couple after initially rejecting them vigorously. If such extreme voices could come to “accept” them, then the casual fan might just do the same. A classic manipulation technique in PR games that include so many of it.

Such tactics include plants (as discussed previously), who work directly for their teams and are meant to drive/sell certain narratives to the fandom. But what is particularly interesting is that you don’t need a whole bunch of them. You might only need one or a couple in each groups. That’s the beauty of it. The rest of those groups will consist of “useful fools”…

By the way, important sidenote, some people (or groups of people) likely use different accounts to add more weight and credibility to what they are selling. Certain Team (Real/PR/Middle Voice) mods share such similar tones, voices and rhetoric that it seems quite suspicious. It might be coincidental of course. But again probably not.

The “useful idiots” are very useful tools…

Plants are the original agitators and lead the way while trolls follow in their path. If we use the same concepts as earlier, they are the equivalent of the “useful idiots” in a controlled opposition.

“A useful idiot or useful fool is a person perceived as propagandizing for a cause without fully comprehending the cause's goals, and who is cynically being used by the cause's leaders.”

So obviously you don’t need to be a paid plant to play the exact same role in those PR strategies. All you need is to be susceptible and respond to a certain narrative, not question it and then amplify it yourself. So anyone can be an unwilling “useful” idiot” without even being aware of it, that is what it so pernicious about it.

And when it comes to trolls, they will respond to very specific narratives that involve any kinds of controversy or that will trigger heated discussion because they tend to crave the attention and the drama.

The “Streisand effect” or how not to draw attention to an issue…

*”The Streisand effect is an unintended consequence of attempts to hide, remove, or censor information, where the effort instead backfires by increasing public awareness of the information. The effect is named for American singer and actress Barbra Streisand, whose attempt in 2003 to suppress a photographer's publication of a photograph drew far greater attention to the obscure photograph”.

From a PR perspective, it’s very often smart not to respond to a rumor (true or false) or to a controversy so that you don’t draw more attention to it. Especially since it can be quite dangerous, if your response to a PR crisis is deemed inadequate, it can have even more lasting damage. Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher’s recent apology is a good example of that. They didn’t grasp the severity of their situation and their frivolous response got them cancelled. Pure and simple.

It's true for Chris’ shitshow with this very problematic woman as well. No acknowledgement, no problem! But it’s also true for all these mods who made such a ridiculous (and stupid?) fuzz about being called out plants/trolls when they were never even mentioned by names. Good job on planting this seed inside the minds of their followers. Although I am sure some of them are very much aware of their tactics at this point.

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pulsar-the-northstar · 9 months ago

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Grief as concept in The Gazette's 'Dark Age' - Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Introduction

Grief, in its essence, encompasses a myriad of natural responses triggered by the loss of someone significant in our lives. However, grief isn't confined solely to the departure of a loved one; it extends to the loss of meaningful connections, dreams, aspirations, and even possessions. Whether it's the end of a friendship, leaving a job or home, parting with a beloved pet, or the destruction of a cherished object, each instance of loss can evoke profound feelings of grief.

The notion of "grief work," originating from Freud's perspective, implies a process of detachment from the deceased. However, this concept may not always align with our personal experiences of grief (or with modern psychology’s approach). Similarly, traditional "stage theories" of grief tend to oversimplify the complex emotional journey by delineating distinct phases. Yet, grief is inherently subjective, and our experiences of it can vary widely, making it more apt to discuss the components rather than stages of grief.

Understanding the components of grief is essential, recognizing that they are descriptive rather than prescriptive. These components may coexist simultaneously, and some may be absent altogether. Grieving is not a linear process, there is no predetermined timeline dictating when one should progress from denial to anger, for example. However, the value of stage theories lies in emphasizing that grief is indeed a journey, and every emotion experienced along the way is valid and indicative of progress towards acceptance.

The album Dogma, released in 2015, stands out as The GazettE's most intense and meaningful work to date. Its powerful visuals, deep musical arrangements, and poignant lyrics evoke strong emotions and touch on a range of topics. After the release of Dogma, the band added two singles, Ugly and Undying, to round out the album's theme. Together, these three works, along with their accompanying Dogmatic tours, are often referred to as the Dark Age. Dark Age consists of several stages (like grief itself), and this dark period ends with the Dogmatic Tour Final, symbolically titled as 漆黒 (shikkoku, "the blackest black").

Just as Shikkoku represents the darkest and most profound phase of Dark Age, the Dogma-triptych represents the pinnacle of The GazettE's exploration into darkness. The songs and overall concept of Dark Age are intricate, yet this complexity allows for personal interpretation and reflection. Dark Age acts as a mirror - a dark mirror indeed - where listeners can continually uncover new layers of meaning. Beyond its surface themes, the songs of Dark Age also delve into the complexities of grief.

In the following sections, I'll take you through the songs of the Dogma album, as well as the singles Ugly and Undying, in the same order they were performed during the Shikkoku live. We'll explore how these songs relate to theories of grief and how they navigate themes of death and loss.

Part 1

The opening track of Dogma, titled NIHIL, derives from the Latin word meaning "nothing." This term symbolizes the initial phase of grief when a sense of emptiness and emotional numbness emerges. Sometimes, we may not fully grasp the gravity of the situation, leading to a feeling of detachment from reality. This aspect of grief, characterized by emotional detachment and shock, is identified by British psychiatrist John Bowlby as the first stage of the grieving process based on attachment theory.

The album's second track and title song is DOGMA, which in both its musicality and lyrics raises a very strong theme. The ominous, mournful sound of the harpsichord reminiscent of Bach is accompanied by heartfelt singing and a deep, slow chant: “I deny everything / I deny all of it", which introduces the concept of denial. “Dogma" is a Greek-origin word and can be translated as "what has been proven right". In today's sense, we use this word for a principle of a religion or ideology that is unquestionable – and what could be more unquestionable from a spiritual point of view than death? Although our minds are aware that death is a final state, we still protest against it.

Denial, along with the shock described in NIHIL, constitutes the initial stage of the "five stages of grief”, a widely recognized theory associated with Swiss-American psychiatrist Elisabeth Kübler-Ross. Originally developed for understanding the process of dying, as she was working in hospice care with terminally ill patients, this model may not fully capture the experiences of people who lost a significant person in their lives. Dr. H. Norman Wright later expanded the Kübler-Ross model into a seven-stage framework, refining its phases while preserving its fundamental structure.

DOGMA showcases a wide range of grief components: alongside the theme of denial, it also includes anger towards the stupidity of others, arguing with God, and mentions the funeral as a separating transitional rite (闇を纏い孤高は儀に向かう – "cloaked in darkness, I must face the ceremony alone"). However, the most beautiful expression of the true essence of grief may be found in the last three lines in English: "I will blacken out this world / Darkness in the world / Starts tonight" – because grief almost envelops the mourning person in darkness, marking the beginning of a new era – the Dark Age.

The third song on Dogma, titled RAGE, already alludes to the second stage of the Kübler-Ross model and the third stage of the Wright model: anger. The key question of this phase is "why did this happen to me?" (This question later recurs almost literally in BLEMISH, emphasizing that in the grieving process, the stages may repeat.) Anger during grief can manifest in various ways: towards the fact of death ("We cannot change this fact, it is done"), towards the "dumb" masses (as DOGMA also suggests) who are unable to understand what we are going through; it can be directed towards someone we consider guilty of the loss we suffered, towards the deceased who left us alne, and also - towards ourselves. In RAGE, Ruki uses vulgar expressions to express anger ("shithead", "dickhead", "shitty looser"), while outwardly addressing his words to a single person, who is none other than the "sad old geezer" (God?), who can no longer save us ("Too late / this asshole cannot be saved"), who betrayed us ("How do you use us?") and left us stranded, both as individuals and as a community ("The generation is our last one"). Addressing God is also part of the bargaining according to the Kübler-Ross and Wright modelsas spirituality frequently becomes a factor in grief, involving the higher power capable of granting and ending life.

As we move forward to the next track, DAWN, we encounter a subtle yet significant shift in tone. The very title of the song suggests the promise of emerging from darkness into light, evoking a sense of hope and renewal. However, despite this optimistic connotation, the essence of the composition remains entrenched in the depths of despair and uncertainty.

The song begins with a reminiscence, pulling us back into NIHIL (愛し果てた過去抉り出し歌う /空白の底に - "I sing, digging up the memories of the beloved past", "An evil spell my life"). However, hope is best symbolized by the imagery of 惑乱の時を越え /あぶくを立てる感情を ("beyond the momentary confusion / emotions come to surface"), since grief requires the full spectrum of emotions for its expression.

DEPRAVITY again evokes the state of hopelessness after DAWN (どこまでも深く闇は俺を離さない - "darkness completely engulfs me and won't let go", 眠れぬ夜と生きた – "I lived through sleepless nights"), and also states that the emotions that surfaced no longer support the grief process (涙も枯れてしまった – "my tears have dried up"). However, the setback is only apparent: modern grief theories no longer think in such linear processes, but rather in a system where the griever oscillates between emotions. A "normal" grief (i.e., not "complicated" grief) follows a natural pendulum movement: sometimes focusing on experiencing the loss, sometimes shifting focus to the intention of restoration, and back. This theory of grief processing is called the associated with Margaret Stroebe and Henk Schut, and could be illustrated with the following diagram:

DEPRAVITY introduces the theme of seeking meaning with its interrogation of God (執念の塊がぶちまけた暴力を / 罪と呼ばず神と讃えれるか？- "how can you praise a god who unleashes violence without calling it sin?"), questioning what kind of god allows suffering and the death of the people created in his image. In grief and loss, seeking meaning is a natural human reaction: we create mental models of the world in which fundamental truths (DOGMA) operate ("This cannot happen to me"), and when unexpected loss occurs, it shatters our previous worldview. In the process of rebuilding, it's not just the lost person that needs to be mourned, but also the trust in life itself – because if this horror can happen, which shouldn't have happened, then basically anything can happen. This distrust, or uncertainty, is what brings the need for seeking (and finding) meaning (Dr. Robert Neimeyer's meaning reconstruction theory): it necessitates the creation of new narratives, bridging the gap between past and future, transcending the experience of loss.

DEPRAVITY brings up realizations from the depths (真実の裏はいつだってそうさ – "there's always something behind the truth"), which we were not aware of before experiencing loss: how important the lost person was to us (繋いだ心が/ 通わせ合った願いが – "connected hearts / and shared hopes"), and with them, not only did we lose the other half, but also the future we had dreamed of, where the deceased had a place, and where the void formed (望まぬ終わりに何を失う？ - "what is lost with the unexpected end?").

PARALYSIS continues along the same train of thought, but much more prominently. Ruki stated about this song that it draws from a personal experience, a specific story, and is about his own weakness, vulnerability. Personally, I find it beautiful how Ruki integrates English idioms into Japanese lyrics because it gives a sense as if he's singing words highlighted in bold and italics: everything has emphasis, and it points back to the fact that despite seeking truth, secrets remain forever hidden from us ("Lies are stacking up", "Past... Buried... Forever"). Although the title of the song means "numbness," it rather refers to a numbness of action than emotional numbness, as emotions – especially pain – come back with renewed vigor (本能のまま絡まり出した感情が / わからないくらい痛い, "these instinctively tangled emotions / hurt more than I thought"), and cannot be suppressed (寂寞に埋まる私の生命 / 吐き出せばまた孤独に還ってしま, "my life is buried in loneliness / no matter how hard I try to vomit it out, loneliness always returns"). It's significant that he wants to vomit out loneliness (吐き出す, hakidasu – "to spit out, to vomit"), as continuous nausea, seemingly independent of any bodily cause, often appears among the physical symptoms of grief. (Other commonly occurring physical symptoms include: insomnia or hypersomnia, increased appetite or loss of appetite, headaches or other bodily pains.)

BIZARRE provides a momentary glimpse into the grief process, considering that here Ruki wrote the lyrics about a specific phenomenon, juvenile crime, yet this song also contains numerous references to violence and death, as if suggesting: hell itself is the terrible place we live in, where innocent people die.

Continue to part 2

#the gazette #dogma #dark age #grief work #grief

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gothicprep · 1 year ago

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like, 3 days ago, someone sent me a podcast episode that was speculating about the motivations behind gay conservatives, log cabin republicans, those types. i've had to listen to it incrementally, and i've been lying and saying that i'm busy and shit like that, but the reality is that i get pretty hostile towards unfalsifiable projections of intentionality and find it difficult to listen to when other people are doing that.

here's my piece: generally speaking, people fall into one psychological bias or the other. one of them is, "tradition, because it's honored by time and repetition, is a reliable metric for structuring the world. if it's not broken, there's no need to fix it. sticking to this redounds to human flourishing". the other is, "what we're doing here doesn't seem to be working at all. it's ludicrous that we can live in a ~wealthy~ society and still have people who struggle to meet their basic needs. it's our social responsibility to figure out what's going wrong, and figuring that out & acting on those conclusions will redound to human flourishing." probably goes without saying that this is very brass tacks and i'm flattening down a lot of nuance. but usually people's political sentiments are a downstream of which one of these biases that they're drawn to. even given that the US republican party has historically been more homo/transphobic, i don't think there's inherently something contradictory about being some flavor of gay/queer/trans and being deferential to that first bias. their personal beliefs may present a bit differently than a homophobic baptist influencer or whatever, but that doesn't mean they aren't sharing similar moral principles or theories of the world.

i'd also wager that someone who's lgbt and conservative leans more towards compartmentalizing that identity feature than someone who's categorically similar but much to their left.

circling back to the subject at issue here, imo the biggest fuckup people make when they try to analyze gay conservatives or conservatives in general is that they think it's a fake or made up position or something. this person is being a "pick me", they're grifting, this is a product of self-shame, this is a gambit to impress a homophobic father. discussions about dogwhistles mirror this to some extent. and i just don't really get how you arrive at the point that all of this is more personally plausible than these being authentically held beliefs that you find illegible. makes me feel like i'm sitting in the corner and trying to yell "horses! not zebras! why are you so committed to zebras?!" but can't make a sound.

iunno. you can't transpose consciousness, and applying your own systems of thought to people who don't think the way you do will have you arrive at some really fucked up conclusions. you're probably just better off talking to that person directly rather than thinking about what they think. even if they're lying through their teeth, i can't imagine it's any worse at establishing an understanding than this stuff.

#put it on the growing list of shit i wrote at 2 in the morning and queued for a time i didn't bother to look at

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aristocratic-otter · 1 year ago

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Trope Grading

I've not been on Tumblr much, so this missed me, and it looks like a lot of fun. So thank you, @bazzybelle for the tag, I'm gonna give it a shot!

I'm not picky either, though I've got a few hard nos. But I can even put those aside for a really compelling story. For example, I'm driven away generally by MCD, but my two favorite fics right now, What's Left by @cutestkilla and The Mirrors that Hold Us by @artsyunderstudy both involve MCD, so clearly I don't hold to my principles that hard 😂

Rules: How much do these tropes affect your decision to click on a fic?

-10 -> very dissuaded

0 - don’t care either way

+10 -> very enticed

nope -> if it’s a hard no and you’d never click on a fic with that tag or or you even have the tag blocked or you’d insta click out of the fic if it wasn’t tagged

Bonus points for explaining the rating and whether it’s conditional.

Age gap: +6

Not my favorite, but one of my favorite previous ships was Grissom/Sara from CSI, which is a twenty year age gap, so clearly I'm not that bothered by it.

Codependency: +5

This doesn't bother me precisely, other than you see it a lot in fluff fics and established relationship fics, and neither of those is my jam.

Obsession/Possessiveness, jealousy: +7

I like this generally, though if there's a power imbalance in the relationship it can be squicky. But if it's SnowBaz, it's a guaranteed angst-bringer, and I love the angst.

Opposites (grumpy/sunshine etc): +8

I don't need this in my fics, but I do like it. Exploring how people are different from each other is fun!

Enemies to lovers, Enemies with benefits: +10

Fuck yes

Friends with benefits: +8

This is lower because (especially with SnowBaz), I feel like it's unrealistic. They're so deep into each other that I don't feel like they'd ever settle for friendship. There are a few fics that have done it well, but it's just not as angsty, so I don't like it as much.

Sex to feelings: +10

It's hot, 'nuff said. And often angsty, which is brilliant. If you disagree, I challenge you to read Someone Wicked by @artsyunderstudy

Fake dating/relationship: +8

This can be good if it's handled in a fun way. I truly loved The Wedding Bet by @facewithoutheart and How To Avoid a Scandal by @you-remind-me-of-the-babe

Friends to lovers: +8

Just like Friends with benefits, I may enjoy this when it's done well, but I find it less exciting and realistic than enemies to lovers (at least in the Simon Snow fandom)

Found Family: +8

I like this, but not if it's the only point of the fic, because then it verges on fluff, which I don't enjoy.

Hurt/Comfort: +5

I don't mind this, but not if it's the whole point of the fic. I prefer more depth to the stories I read. But I never mind it being an aspect of a fic that has more than just that!

Love Triangle: +5

I don't feel one way or the other about this, but I'm guilty of using it to ramp up the angst when I write. I've liked plenty of fics with this trope though, and written quite a few myself!

Poly, open relationships: -5

This is my only negative! I think because I'm ace, and I can't imagine wanting MORE than one lover, I find it off-putting when I read it. I'll make an exception when the point is pure smut, but I prefer monogamy in my serious fics.

Mistaken/hidden identity: +5

This can be very good when it's done well, but mostly I find it's hard to do it in an original way.

Monsterfucking: +10

Duh.

Pregnancy: +10

So, this requires a little background. From the time I was a child, I'd tell myself stories to help me fall asleep at night. And without fail, sooner or later, a baby would happen in those stories. I don't know what deep psychology explains it, but I can say I love seeing how couples deal with the unexpected, and an unplanned but desired pregnancy fic is great for exploring that. So yes, given I'm entrenched in the Carry On fandom right now, I'm a diehard mpreg fan.

Second Chance: +0

My only zero, and this is because I fall solidly on the fence here. I love a fic where Simon and Baz never got together, but connect later on and fall in love. It's one of my favorite things. But I hate a fic where Simon and Baz were together, fell apart and then get back together. I guess it's because I can't handle break-up fics.

Slowburn: +10

I love angst and what's more frustrating and angsty than a slowburn?

Soulmates: +10

Odd as it seems for my science mind, I'm unapologetic when it comes to soulmate AUs. I love them all.

Tagging (again, haven't been on Tumblr much, so feel free to ignore if you've done this): @artsyunderstudy, @annabellelux, @bookish-bogwitch, @carryonsimoncarryonbaz, @frjsti, @fatalfangirl, @facewithoutheart, @giishu, @hushed-chorus, @ionlydrinkhotwater, @ileadacharmedlife, @ivelovedhimthroughworse, @jasonfunderberkerthefrogexists, @krisrix, @larkral, @messofthejess, @moodandmist, @prettylightsbigcity, @penpanoply, @raenestee, @theearlgreymage, @stardustasincocaine, @tea-brigade, @thehoneyedhufflepuff, @you-remind-me-of-the-babe

#tag game #favorite tropes

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zalrb · 1 year ago

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So I know you don’t think the cast of The Boys gel and I’m inclined to agree. What do you think of the actual acting and characters? Are Homelander and Butcher compelling characters, or are they poorly written?

I’ve been struggling with the Homelander question myself because I think he’s a very fun character. I love seeing him become more and more unraveled, but I’m not sure what to make of him because the show itself has that question of responsibility: how much is Homelander responsible for considering his upbringing and how he’s been manipulated by Vought his entire life, but also how can he not be held responsible for his crimes when he’s literally the most powerful man on Earth? Like you said, it’s very muddled and I’m not sure what to make of it.

Butcher is a bit easier for me because I think he made a good anti-hero at first, but again with the muddling because he hates supes for what they did to him, but now he’s willing to become one? I get that the point of Butcher is that he has no principles and the ends justify the means for him, but I’d like to see more consistency than “I want Homelander dead” from him.

It's always difficult for me to explain my feelings about The Boys because I find that its balance is off, sometimes the satire is so, painfully "yes, ok we get it" overt and sometimes it hits and sometimes I'm like, so what are you saying with this? and sometimes I'm like ... so you're missing your own supposed point

And Homelander as a character is all three things, which is why I end up making posts like

because it all gets muddled and the fan reactions get unhinged and I think it's because the writers want to have their cake and eat it too.

Like, outside of the show, Kripke is always like, how are people not understanding the character?

He says that Homelander was always a stand-in for Trump but it gets more obvious in season 3

The evil-Superman-style character Homelander is becoming more and more of a direct Trump analogue this season. What was your thinking there? He’s always been a Trump analogue for me. I’ll admit to being a little more bald this season than I have in past seasons. But the world is getting more coarse and less elegant. The urgency of our team’s writing reflects that. We’re angrier and more scared as the years go on, so that is just being reflected in our writing. But part of it is where Homelander’s story naturally goes. He has this really combustible mix of complete weakness and insecurity, and just horrible power and ambition, and it’s just such a deadly combo. Of course he would feel victimized that people are angry that he dated a Nazi. All he ever wants is to be the most powerful person he can be, even though he’s completely inadequate in his abilities to handle it. So it’s white-male victimization and unchecked ambition. And those issues just happened to reflect the guy who, it’s just still surreal to say it, was fucking president of the United States. And it’s a bigger issue than just Trump. The more awful public figures act, the more fans they seem to be getting. That’s a phenomenon that we wanted to explore, that Homelander is realizing that he can actually show them who he really is and they’ll love him for it.

and that's there. Like, Homelander is written obviously as a villain, Homelander is written obviously as a narcissist who will do anything to protect his image, it's there from Day One but I think the writing is infatuated with the character. Like, even more so than with Butcher, who Kripke calls the hero of the show. I think the writing is fascinated by Homelander's psychology

I love it. There’s a smaller moment with Homelander where he’s having this conversation with himself in the mirror. And it gives new insight into his psyche. What do you hope viewers take away from that scene?

You know, our take on Homelander is even though he’s a sociopath, he’s also a human being who has reactions and feelings. To me, the biggest sin that Homelander commits is that he hates that he has feelings and he hates that he’s a human being. You know, if he embraced that part of him more, he might be a happier person who isn’t going to destroy the planet. I think in the original version of it, the figure in the mirror was just this kind of cruel browbeating character telling Homelander what a loser he was.

And, Antony [Starr] called me and said, “What if it’s his childhood friend? And what if they have this connection because he was alone for so long that he ended up creating this relationship with an image of himself? And that’s what got him through these situations?” And I was like, that’s awesome. Because one, it’s sad, but it’s also really scary. [This is] a guy with multiple personality disorder. And that part of him is saying, “Cut out the part of you that’s human.” I don’t want people to sympathize with Homelander but I do want them to understand him a little more. I look at that scene, and I get a little scared by it, too.

and I'm like ... I don't know, it seems like the writing wants me to sympathize with him and that's why you and I are having this conversation because the execution of this isn't striking the right balance so when the right-wing fans freaked out in season 3 and there was that reddit shitstorm, it's like yeah, Homelander (and Blue Hawk) is clearly a villain, literally just look at what he does. Yeah, you were being wilfully obtuse if you didn't see that the show was always a political satire. But I think they picked up on the glee and fascination the writing has with Homelander and that's why they expected a redemption arc.

And when it comes to the basic concept of a superhero who is actually sociopathic and terrorizes the people he publicly makes a show out of saving, I can understand being fascinated by that because it's an interesting concept and that aspect of it. This,

We are a superhero show, but we deconstruct and break down and shine a light on the complete fucking absurdities of a superhero show and poke a lot of fun at what it is to be a superhero, and how stupid that world is, and how horrible they’d be as people.

they do well and clearly but when you make that concept inherently political and tie that up in an exploration of fascism and nationalism and capitalism and racism and you're not ... doing anything with it, then what's the point of his character. He's a Trump stand-in, OK ... and ... what? Like ... what?

Like with Succession, they're all toxic, broken, horrible, sinfully wealthy white people and the show is upfront in sympathizing with them, in doing what it can to find their humanity, in exploring abusive parental dynamics but it's also making clear commentary and I can see the commentary and I can trace the commentary and the fandom can argue about what exactly they're saying but they're clearly saying something.

Kripke says they're making commentary but it feels like a half-finished thought at best. You're noticing how the more politicians behave badly in public, the more their base loves them so you're showing that with Homelander and ... what? He talks about exploring the cycles of toxic masculinity because Soldier Boy is his father and the two of them have done the same things in their romantic relationships

"The fact that they are both genuinely stunned that the women in their lives hate them tells you everything you need to know about how blinded they are by their own egos," said the producer. "So no, love does not redeem you when you're a horrible person who is completely blind to other people's emotions."

but Homelander didn't even know he had a father until this season, for his entire life he just thought he was made in a tube, so the generational cycles angle isn't really working for me, and again what are you saying with this, what is the point?

Like, when they're poking fun at the left with how out-of-touch they can be and how they commodify movements and identities, the intent is clear, I don't get that with Homelander.

And I think an issue for me with this as well is that a very vocal portion of the fandom is doing the very thing with the characters that the writers are apparently satirizing or criticizing so, like, Stormfront for instance, there is clear irony in a lot of her scenes and this is when they're making overt commentary. Like, she is a literal nazi but she made a quip about how the female superheroes should have uniforms with pockets so she's an internet sensation, I get that, and that played out with the fandom and the character, which is why I made a post like

and that happens continuously with Homelander. And maybe an argument could be made that that isn't the writers' fault considering how in season 3 specifically, Homelander fans realized that they're the punchline which means that they're doing something right but I think because they want to keep writing Homelander, keep wanting to see what he'll do next, keep coming up with disturbing, weird shit for him to do, and there's an infatuation with that, they're not executing what they say they're executing as well as they could and that's a failing to me.

With Butcher, his entire personality seems to be summed up with

there is no greater good, there is no altruism, there is no honour, there is no loyalty, there's just

and that's all you really need to know.

In terms of the acting, I think Anthony Starr does a good job in showing how unhinged Homelander is. Karl Urban is a bit cartoonish for me.

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softlantern · 1 year ago

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Hello! I stumbled upon your blog, saw Layra, amd immediately wanted to know more about the star bean!

What are some fun facts about her?

Also, have some cookies for you and Layra.

Hey, hi!!:D Thank you very much for your question. It's so nice when someone is interested in learning about your OC. 😌💖Sorry for so much of text, I couldn't stop, phphph-

Thanks for the cookies! Layra happily shares it with you. I imagined it with chocolate chips.🍪

General facts:

- Layra's voice sounds like Sofia the First's.👸

- When she laughs, it feels like someone is playing on glasses.

- She chose the child form because she is energetic, open, childish and cute. Although psychologically speaking, she behaves and thinks far from like an ordinary child. She can suddenly become very serious and tell you quite wise conscious words.

- Speaking about her awareness, she has it at its best from the very beginning. I wish I had her sense of reality.:"D

- Terrible sweet tooth. She especially likes sweets that would make people's teeth hurt from the amount of sugar in them.🍬🧁

- When she is very excited she begins to vibrate. Like a washing machine at high speed. At the same time, she heats up significantly and starts to shine more. You may think that she begins to look like a mirage in the desert.🏜

- Everyone who has ever heard her sing asks her not to do it again. The sound is certainly very pleasant, but the side effect is that it affects the energy of the people around. And you just sit there and think, “Holy stars, why is this making me feel like I’m on a emotional roller coaster??”. Makes you feel extremely intense emotions.💗

- Very tactile. Her primary love language is touch. Plus, she likes to touch everything around her, especially if it’s something soft, fluffy and warm.🧣

- She has a collection of blankets.

- Always open and honest, can be painfully straightforward.

- Adapts very quickly to the environment, adapting sufficiently to its norms, but always maintaining her core and basic principles. Very useful, since she often deals with inhabitants from different worlds.

Facts about her in Collector Wally AU:

- she often has two roses in her hair, since she accidentally got into the Collector’s pocket dimension and fell on his bushes with roses. A couple of them got stuck in her hair, and when she looked in the mirror she decided that it suited her very well.:D 🌹

- tries to help Helper around the house as best as she can. It doesn't work out very well. He tries to keep her mostly away from dishes and window cleaning. But she cleans the floors very quickly and well. Everything is sparkling all around.🌟

- since she has never had a family relationship before, she does not understand that someone can become attached to her in return, love her or be worried for her. She was very surprised to learn that she is important to Helper and Collector. But also very happy. :) 💞💗

- When Collector has nightmares, she can drive them away, but for this she needs to be nearby. He doesn’t know that she does this and thinks that she’s just very clingy, finding her next to him in the morning. :"D

- Also, before Helper pointed out that her hair is weird it was like that. Unstable and so beautiful🌌:

#my OC

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hermeticphoenix · 1 year ago

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Ascended Masters

In mid-1950s, the automatic writing practitioner Dorothy Martin, aka Sister Thedra, received a communication from an entity calling itself Sananda – the “galactic name” of Jesus in the Ascended Master Teachings. After conveying spiritual teachings to Martin and her esoteric group, the Seekers, Sananda “revealed” that a global cataclysm would destroy the Earth in 1954. The enlightened Seekers, would, however, be rescued by a flying saucer and taken to Ananda’s planet.

Many Seekers quit their jobs, gave away their possessions, and waited for a flying saucer that never came to rescue them from a cataclysm that never happened.

This true story was described in the pioneering social psychology work When Prophecy Fails, by Leon Festinger, Henry Riecken, and Stanley Schachter, published in 1956. I re-read this book often and take it as a warning. Like Dorothy Martin, we, as practicing magicians, receive signs and communications from beyond the ordinary. One of our challenges is not falling prey to self-deception.

Why are we in danger of self-deception? It’s tempting to interpret any extraordinary experience as evidence of success at magic. Our subconsciousness reflects back what we give it – the principle that Robert Anton Wilson summarised as “what the thinker thinks, the prover proves.” If we read about Egyptian and Indian deities, our subconsciousness will dress our experiences with these symbols.

Add to this that the astral-mental regions are full of elementals and larvae that can pose as helpful guides to feed off our astral matrix. It is conceivable that the entity moving Dorothy Martin’s pen was one such mischievous elemental.

This deceptive allure is sometimes called “glamour.” Certain authors, like theosophist Alice Bailey, pay much attention to keeping safe of glamour in their writings.

One tactic for dealing with glamour is disregarding all unusual phenomena. In certain teaching orders, the prevalent practice is to invalidate any experience a student might have as “illusion,” “Maya,” “distraction” or some such. This is throwing the baby out with the bathwater. If we wish to study magic, we must study the effects of magic.

So let’s look at some practical ways in which we can address such phenomena. I would recommend, first of all, detached journaling of such phenomena. Then, their analysis with respect of whether they flatter and whether they impose themselves. The soul mirrors are an invaluable tools for their examination, and a good magic hygiene a way to prevent them.

One of my favourite esoteric authors, Paul Foster Case, wrote that the true Voice will never flatter and never command. I understand flattery to mean anything that arouses self-importance, such as suggesting that a person is exceptionally talented, successful, and chosen for a special mission or favour. Flattery may come in form of a messiah complex: a notion that the individual has been chosen to save others. Or, conversely, it may come as a belief that we will be spared something that “ordinary” people are due.

Let’s go back to the story of Dorothy Martin and see how it compares to these suggestions. First, Martin didn’t practice detached journaling, but took every transmission from “Sananda” at face value. She allowed “Sananda” to flatter her as a chosen “channel” of teachings beyond her level of spiritual maturity, and command her to prepare for the rapture on the threat of cataclysm. The Seekers as a group didn’t take their deteriorating familial, social and professional relationships as a warning that something was amiss. Finally, the group was open to any and all influences to the point of exhaustion, rather than consuming information mindfully and cultivating balance.

Developing resilience to glamour is a prerequisite to a sustainable and productive magic practice, and I hope that these musings will at least serve as a reminder of this, just as When Prophecy Fails serves as a reminder to me when I get a bit carried away.

This article is not written by me. I only shared it. To learn more about this article, you can click this link: https://perseusarcaneacademy.com/post…

#spirituality #occult #magick #spiritual knowledge #spiritualguidance #psychic #ascended master #new age #ancient aliens #alien

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